Improvement in manufacture of buckwheat-size



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

\VILIJIAM A. COMSTOO K, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 6,915, dated November 14, 1548.

To all whom it mag concern! Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. Oomsrocn,

of Providence, in the county of Providence.

and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Brocess or Mode of Making from Buckwheat Sizing fOlQYZlIllS; and I do hereby declare that the same is hereinafter fully set forth or described.

.My improvement enablesnic to produce an excellent sizing at about one-third the cost of that iugeneral use, and made from common wheat-flour.

Put into an open tub capable'of containing about seventygallons of water about one hundred pounds of buckwheatmeal. Mix the same with about forty gallons of water of a temperature of about 130 Fahrenheits thermometer. Place the same in a room, the atmosphere of which is to be constantly maintained at a tcmperlture of about 80 or 90 Fahrenheit. Allow the sameto remain in said roorntsoheatd) seven or eight days, or until it has thoroughly fermented. Next skim off the mingled bran and gluten which forms on the surface or upper part of the mixture,'aud, by means of a siphon or any other suitable substitute, remove the remaining watery and superfluous liquid from the past-y mass. Next .nrix water in quantity s'ufiicien't to enable the composition to be-passed through afine brasswire sieve and into another tub, in which suf fer it to remain two days, o'r-untiL the meal has subsided to the'bo'ttom thereof. N extskim ofl' the impurities or extraneous matters and remove the superfluous water in a manner similar to that bel'ore' mentioned. Next dissolve about eight ounces of supercarbonate of soda -in one gallon of water, and when so'dissolved add the solution'to the pasty mass and thoroughly mix it therewith. Put thewhole so prepared into a suitable boiling-vessel, and with water suflicient to make about one hundred and forty gallons of the mixture after the next or boiling operation is completed. For a boiling apparatus I prefer one having a steampipe, and in this and in other respects essentially like that in common use for boiling starch. .After thoroughly. incorporating the mixture and the water bring the whole up to a boiling-point as soon as possible, being careful in the meantime to stir it energetically in ord'er to prevent the meal from falling to the bottom. 'Next slowly boil the mixture for about three hours, and afterward draw it oti into tubs holding about seventy gallons each,

in which suffer it to remain until it is cooled down 'to the common or mean atmospheric temperature, when it will be fit for use. -The object of the employment of the sodais to neutralize the acid of fermentation and restore the mass to its proper state during and in connection with theflnextportion of the process-viz., that of boiling and energetically stirring the mixture. The whole process, in all itsdetails, is necessary to the manufacture of a sizing from buckwheat which-will possess both preservative and workable-properties.

What I claim as my iuvention'is- The-making of sizing for yarns from buckwheat-meal substantially in themanner or by v the process .as hereinbefore specified,the same enabling me, at about one-third the usual expense of preparing wheat-flour size, to prod nee amuch better and more substantial sizeone more especially adapted for tine yarns ordiflicu t weavingthan any heretofore in use. In testimony'whereof I have hereto set my signature this 17th day of November, A. D.

WILLIAM A. COMSTOOK.

WitnessesE WM. KNOWLES, SAMUEL AsHBEv. 

